Trump has stuck House Republicans with the impossible task of literally reconciling his red-ink gluttony — about $5 trillion for starters — with their objective of hoodwinking voters into believing the GOP is still a party of fiscal responsibility. What to do? They don't really know. This alone is understandable, because their task is ... impossible. They do have history as a rough sort of guide, however, and so to it, they're looking. The House Budget Committee has stitched together a 50-page list of reactionary chestnuts and is spreading it among caucus members; some thoughts of yore revived, the traditional stuff of stiffing the poor and middle class while further comforting the most comfortable. What follows are a few items taken directly from the list, GOP wording intact, mine in brackets and bold.
Medicaid Per Capita Caps
Up to $900 billion in 10-year savings
VIABILITY: HIGH / MEDIUM / LOW
With a per capita cap, the federal government makes a limited payment to the state based on a preset formula, which does not increase based on actual costs. States exceeding the “cap” for enrollees would thus need to find other revenues to maintain spending levels. [This proposal should be renamed 'Putting the Screws to States and Sickening the Poor.']
Other Reforms to Obamacare Subsidies
Up to $5 billion in 10-year savings
VIABILITY: HIGH / MEDIUM / LOW
Reform Obamacare subsidies in the individual market to: lower premiums.... [As I understand the insurance market at its most basic level, "lower premiums" always mean less coverage.]
Repeal DACA Obamacare Subsidies Final Rule
$6 billion in 10-year savings
VIABILITY: HIGH / MEDIUM / LOW
The Biden Administration finalized a rule that would allow DACA recipients to enroll in subsidized marketplace and basic health program (BHP) plans. [Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals allows hundreds of thousands of children brought to the U.S. by undocumented parents to legally work, attend school and acquire healthcare — or not, if the latter's repealed.]
Repeal Obamacare Subsidies "Family Glitch” Final Rule
Up to $35 billion in 10-year savings
VIABILITY: HIGH / MEDIUM / LOW
The text of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) made it clear that individuals with affordable employer coverage are not eligible to receive Obamacare subsidies for ACA plans. The Biden Administration illegally altered the ACA by creating a new affordability standard to both employees and their dependents. [Biden's appalling act qualified millions of low-income family members for ACA subsidies.]
Repeal Green Energy Tax Credits
Up to $796 billion in 10-year savings
VIABILITY: HIGH / MEDIUM / LOW
This option would repeal credits created and expanded under the Inflation Reduction Act. These credits are related to clean vehicles, clean energy, efficient building and home energy, carbon sequestration, sustainable aviation fuels, environmental justice, biofuel, and more. [Because nobody wants clean air.]
Endowment Tax Expansion to 14 Percent Rate
$10 billion in 10-year savings
VIABILITY: HIGH / MEDIUM / LOW
The 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) imposed a new tax on a small group of private nonprofit colleges and universities [1.4% on their net investment income]. This would raise that rate to 14%. [Because Republicans detest higher education.]
Eliminate Exclusion of Scholarship and Fellowship Income
$54 billion in 10-year savings
VIABILITY: HIGH / MEDIUM /LOW
Qualified scholarships and fellowships are generally excluded from taxable income if used for tuition and related expenses . This option would make all scholarship and fellowship income taxable. [See above.]
Eliminate Deduction for Charitable Contributions to Health Organizations
$83 billion in 10-year savings
VIABILITY: HIGH / MEDIUM / LOW
Taxpayers can deduct contributions to qualifying health organizations (patient advocacygroups, professional medical associations, and other U.S.-based charitable organizations with 501 (c)(3) tax status) from their taxable income. This option would remove the deduction for contributions to health organizations. ['The Sticking it to Planned Parenthood Act.']
Improve SSI Income and Asset Verification
Unknown savings
VIABILITY: HIGH / MEDIUM / LOW
SSI (Supplemental Security Income) provides cash assistance to aged, blind , and disabled individuals with little or no income. [Current law allows assets ("resources") of up to $400.] This policy option would lower the $400 resource-level tolerance to $0. [This particular cruelty ... never mind, no words, or way, way too many.]
Eliminate the Death Tax
$370 billion in 10-year costs
VIABILITY: HIGH / MEDIUM /LOW
The 2023 exclusion amount is $12.9 million per person ($25.8 million for married couples). This option would eliminate the federal estate tax. [Talk about chestnuts.]
Lower the Corporate Rate to 15 Percent
$522 billion in 10-year costs
VIABILITY: HIGH / MEDIUM / LOW
TCJA [Tax Cuts and Jobs Act] permanently lowered the corporate income tax rate from a globally uncompetitive 35 percent to 21 percent. This option would further lower the corporate rate to 15 percent. [See above.]
10 Percent Tariff
$ 1.9 trillion in 10-year savings
VIABILITY: HIGH / MEDIUM /LOW
This option would create a 10% across the board tariff on all imports. [Guys, Trump might take care of this one for you. Either way, the tariff would cost American consumers more than $2,000 a year. And there you have it, "the party of the people."]
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I made it through only about a third of the 50 unnumbered pages. Even at that I was exhausted, quitting around midnight. Not the reading itself but the content, that's what tired me. Filing through proposal after proposal of pettiness and pitilessness, solitude for the powerful and wholly wrongheaded macroeconomic "ideas" — largely in service to a sociopathic authoritarian on a massive spending spree — was intellectually depressing and spiritually draining.
I’ve seen mention of this but few details, so thanks for plowing through a few pages to provide some context. It’s very much appreciated. It seems like a pretty bog-standard GOP wish list, just pumped up to 11 because why not. I can’t imagine that what, if anything, emerges looks much like it, since congressional goppers can’t agree on the time, date or color of the sky. The next debt limit crisis is going to be something else, imho.